


Man in motion

by Builder



Series: Missing Moments [7]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Missing Scene, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Rewritten Scene, Sickfic, The Avengers (2012) Compliant, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-05-19 22:54:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14882778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Builder/pseuds/Builder
Summary: “Do you know why people get sick on planes and things?”It’s not a question Steve’s expecting.  “No,” he says on his next breath.  “I don’t.”“They didn’t teach you that in the army?”  She’s grinning now._____Or, Steve is wholly unprepared for a new world of technology.  It's a good thing Nat's ready to explain things.





	Man in motion

**Author's Note:**

  * For [here_comes_the_moose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/here_comes_the_moose/gifts).



> This fic is based on a line in this other fic (T’Challa getting airsick)… I was asked to expand on this line:
> 
> “Yeah, trust me on that one. I think pretty much everybody on the team’s had an ‘incident’ on a jet at least once. Remember the mess Rogers made his first time?” Clint laughs. “Consider it an initiation.”
> 
>  
> 
> Sooo…This story (below) is based on the events in the Avengers (2012), but details shifted to fit. I know the deal with Loki and the scepter and the attack on New York was supposed to be Steve’s first mission in modern times, so that would make it (probably) the first time he’s been on a modern jet. PROBLEM is, in my other fic, I made Clint say the line about Steve getting airsick, and he wasn’t in that scene in the movie—It was just Nat and Coulson with Steve, I think?? So, you’ll have to pretend Nat told Clint all about it, and he’s just enough of a jerk to talk about it behind Steve’s back…
> 
> Anyhow. Missing moments/re-written scene, original dialogue 100% disregarded, and Coulson deleted because I don’t care about him.

Steve does his best to sit up straight.  He wants to put his elbows on his knees and drop his head into his hands, though he’s not sure how that will go over.  He’s been told the two agents on the jet with him aren’t necessarily his superiors, but old habits die hard.  Steve settles for gritting his teeth behind closed lips and letting out a long, slow breath.

“You ok there?”  The female agent sits down on the bench seat beside him.  Her name is Natasha, Steve recalls.  He can’t remember her last name.

“Fine, ma’am,” Steve says.

“Please.”  She rolls her eyes.  “It’s Nat.”

“Oh.”  Apparently they’re on a first-name basis.  “I’m Steve.”  He unwraps one arm from around his stomach and holds out his hand.

“Hi.”  Nat offers a brief, firm handshake, then aks, “You sure you’re alright?  You look like you’re struggling.”

“I’ll be fine,” Steve replies, swallowing and forcing a smile.

“Somehow I don’t quite buy that.”  Nat gives him a long look.  “If there’s something that’s going to compromise your ability to carry out the mission, you should tell me now.”

“It’s nothing, really.  I just didn’t think I still got motion sickness.”  Steve wills his nausea to quit climbing.  “But it’s been a while since I’ve been on a plane.”

“Huh.”  Nat’s expression doesn’t move.

“I mean, this is a lot smoother than the flights I took back during the war.”  He’s beginning to taste bile.  Steve rubs his jaw.

“Do you know why people get sick on planes and things?”

It’s not a question Steve’s expecting.  “No,” he says on his next breath.  “I don’t.”

“They didn’t teach you that in the army?”  She’s grinning now.

Steve shakes his head and almost immediately regrets it.  “It was more like, uh, aim away from your neighbor…”  He blushes, and sweat breaks out over his upper lip.

“It’s an upset to your sense of balance,” Nat explains.  “In your ears.”

“…Ok…”

“Things look still, but feel like they’re moving, so your brain assumes you’re poisoned, and you get sick as a defense mechanism.”

“I don’t feel like I’m moving, though,” Steve admits.

“That’s the next part,” Nat says.  “You’ll have to ask somebody else to explain the science, but sometimes it happens the other way around, too.  You know you’re moving, but you don’t feel it.”  She shrugs.  “It’s all just your brain trying to protect your body.”

Steve doesn’t know what to say to this.  The rising lump in his throat seems to have stolen both his thoughts and his ability to vocalize them.  There’s too much saliva flooding his mouth.  Steve’s stomach clenches, and he tries not to flinch as he fights the urge to gag.

“You might feel better if you just throw up,” Nat says, patting Steve’s knee.

“I…”  There’s no pushing it down anymore.  Steve looks around frantically for a bathroom, a bag, anything.  He jumps to his feet and claps his hand over his mouth an instant before he heaves.  More comes up than he expects, and he cringes as vomit hits the front of his suit and spatters onto the floor.

“I’m…so sorry,” Steve chokes before giving in to another heave.

“Don’t worry about it,” Nat says.  She stands awkwardly at his elbow.  “It takes a lot more than that to bother me.”

It doesn’t give Steve much confidence.  “Sorry,” he murmurs again, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.

“It probably doesn’t help, but this kind of thing happens to a lot of people.  You don’t have to be immune to everything.”

“Don’t I, though?”  Steve struggles to get his breath to even out.

Nat shakes her head.  “Not among friends.”


End file.
